Salim Ali Salam

Salim Ali Salam (1868-1938) was the deputy of Beirut, Lebanon to the Grand Assembly of the Ottoman Empire and an activist for Lebanese independence under both the Ottoman Empire and France.

Biography
Salim Ali Salam was born in 1868 in Beirut, Lebanon, Ottoman Empire to a prominent Sunni Muslim family. Salam studied French at a Christian school before studying Turkish at an Ottoman school, and he had twelve children, including feminist Anbara Salam Khalidi and Saeb Salam. Salam became the deputy of Beirut to the Grand Assembly of the Ottoman Empire, and he led the "Beirut Reform Movement" to decentralize and modernize the Ottoman Empire. In 1913, he joined the First Arab Congress in Paris, formulating Arab national demands, and he opposed Ottoman oppression of Arabs, later opposing France's colonial rule over the Mandate of Syria. He died in 1938, and a main avenue in Beirut is named for him. His grandson Tammam Salam would be Prime Minister of Lebanon in the 21st century.